December 2011 Atlantic Coast Conference Wiretap

Kyrie Irving said he has spoken to Duke's Mike Krzyzewski three times since the season began.

"He didn't like the pace I was playing at in the first game," Irving said in reference to his NBA opener on Monday, a night he shot 2-of-12 from the field in a loss to Toronto.

"He said I needed to play a little bit quicker, which I agree with. He offered as much advice as he could."

Irving certainly played a quicker game Wednesday in Detroit, where he scored 14 points and added seven assists.

"We both know he needs to play faster," Cavaliers coach Byron Scott said. "[Irving] knows it. We want to be that type of team. Hearing it from me and also hearing it from a great coach like Mike, who coached him for the last year and knows him pretty well, I think kind of reinforces the way we want him to play. I don't have a problem with that."

USC, the alma mater of Muhammad’s father, Ron Holmes, is apparently out, as is Texas A&M.

“I narrowed my list down actually to six,” he said at the City of Palms Classic. “I think it was a good thing for me to narrow them down to six because a lot of schools were calling that I wasn’t really interested in. So now I can stay grounded on the court and get ready and go through the season.”

"I told you guys that last year, and every one of you thought I was crazy," Williams told reporters Monday night. "At the end of the year, you forgot that I told you that. You didn't say I was right; you just forgot I told you."

Barnes noted his struggles to finish at the rim.

"There’s not too many concerns," Barnes said Tuesday. "I missed a lot of open shots. (Monday) was just a matter of finishing a layup and making some free throws. Those are things you can correct. For the most part you just have to continue to play. With so many games right back to back, you just have to have a short memory."

James Michael McAdoo ‘s overall lack of aggressiveness helps explain why the forward hasn’t been more effective this season.

“Thinking about it at first, I didn't think it would be as hard,” McAdoo said. “But going into this stretch here at home, I'm looking forward to it, just to where I can get into a groove and hit my stride.”

McAdoo is averaging just 5.4 points and 3.6 rebounds in 13.9 minutes.

“This is a big change from a small private school league in Virginia to the ACC,” Williams said. “He's playing against guys just as big, just as quick, long arms and those kind of things — it's a huge adjustment for him, being asked to do it against that caliber of player every single day.”

Tar Heels forward John Henson is the ACC’s early leader in rebounds (10.6 per game), blocked shots (3.3 per game) and double-doubles (five).

Add an effective mid-range jumper to his repertoire and the elastic 6-foot-11 junior would loom as a supreme weapon on both ends of the court.

“I’m hitting them in practice and just building off of it,” he said.

“I’ve worked on those shots a lot, day after day,” he said. “But hitting them in a game is something that builds more confidence than anything. Just trying to become a complete player. Finally, it’s starting to come around.”

Through the Tar Heels’ first ten games, Harrison Barnes’ scoring efficiency on catch-and-shoot/0-dribble possessions is a robust 1.51 points per possession. This includes a sizzling 55.6 percent from behind the 3-point arc.

On possessions in which he takes a single dribble, Barnes’ efficiency falls off to 0.81 points per possession.

When using multiple dribbles, it drops further to 0.66 points per possession. With 2+ dribbles, Barnes is shooting just 31.3 percent through 10 games with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 0.33 (3 assists, 9 turnovers).